The Silk Rainforest

Sheila Hicks, The Silk Rainforest, ca. 1975, silk, linen, and cotton, 962703 in. (243.8685.87.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Bob and Lynn Johnston through Educational Ventures, Inc., 2009.11A-I

Artwork Details

Title
The Silk Rainforest
Artist
Date
ca. 1975
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
962703 in. (243.8685.87.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Bob and Lynn Johnston through Educational Ventures, Inc.
Mediums Description
silk, linen, and cotton
Classifications
Object Number
2009.11A-I

Artwork Description

The Silk Rainforest by Sheila Hicks was commissioned for AT&T headquarters in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The corporation contracted Mildred Constantine, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, to consult on art for its new campus, which was completed in 1975. Having recently juried the International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne, Switzerland, Constantine convinced AT&T to furnish its offices with contemporary textiles. Hicks's commission, the largest for the complex, consisted of two eight-foot-by-twenty-two-foot tapestries hung on opposite sides of a glass staircase leading to the executive suites. Walking between these rich fiber walls evoked the feeling of entering a rainforest.

Hicks's architectural installations are considered ambitious expressions in post-war American art and contributed to shifting the perception of fiber from simply a domestic pursuit to an artist's medium. She has shown a particular sensitivity to weaving traditions, as well as the interplay of color, texture, and space, demonstrating the influence of her education under renowned colorist Josef Albers, his wife, the prominent weaver Anni Albers, and architect Louis Kahn. She was recognized by the American Institute of Architects in 1974 with a gold medal for "the successful integration of art and architecture."

AT&T's textile collection was disbanded when the campus was sold in 2002. Bob and Lynn Johnston, friends of Hicks devoted to the preservation of her work, purchased the tapestries and shipped them to Paris, where Hicks has maintained her studio since 1964. Using the original bolts of hand-woven Bangalore silk, linen thread, and embroidery cotton—materials left dormant for thirty years—Hicks and the small staff responsible for their original manufacture painstakingly restored the work.

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009

Works by this artist (2 items)

Sheila Hicks, The Principal Wife Goes On, 1969, linen, silk, wool and synthetic fibers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1977.118.2A-F
The Principal Wife Goes On
Date1969
linen, silk, wool and synthetic fibers
Not on view
Sheila Hicks, The Silk Rainforest, ca. 1975, silk, linen, and cotton, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Bob and Lynn Johnston through Educational Ventures, Inc., 2009.11A-I
The Silk Rainforest
Dateca. 1975
silk, linen, and cotton
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Louise Todd Cope, Flax II, ca. 1970s, flax and linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Helen Williams Drutt English and H. Peter Stern in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, 2007.47.8
Flax II
Dateca. 1970s
flax and linen
Not on view
Unidentified, Untitled (Child's quilt), ca. 1930, cotton and wool, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia S. Smith, 2016.57.1
Untitled (Child’s quilt)
Artist
Unidentified
Dateca. 1930
cotton and wool
Not on view
Unidentified, Untitled (Amish Doll), ca. 1940, cotton, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia S. Smith, 2016.57.11
Untitled (Amish Doll)
Artist
Unidentified
Dateca. 1940
cotton
Not on view
Richard Timothy Evans, Miss Havisham (Scrap Doll), ca. 1975, muslin and lace, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1975.138
Miss Havisham (Scrap Doll)
Dateca. 1975
muslin and lace
Not on view